Multiplot on multiple pages pdf gnuplot

Question

The title says it all, I want a multiple page pdf, but on each page I want multiple plots. I thought that multipage was the default for a pdf, but I cannot seem to get it to work. Here is a boiled down simplified code

set terminal pdf
set output "trial.pdf"
set multiplot layout 2,2
plot cos(x)
plot cos(2*x)
plot cos(3*x)
plot cos(4*x)
plot cos(5*x)

This only gives me one page and the last plot is no where to be found. What am I misunderstanding?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Did not the fifth plot plot on top of the first plot? That would be the normal behavior here. You specified layout 2,2. That means there is logical space for 2 rows of 2 columns of plot. What you need to do, is unset multiplot where you want the page break and then set it again for the next page. This example is just 1 row with 3 columns for each page. You can adjust as necessary.

set terminal pdf
set output "trial.pdf"
set multiplot layout 1,3
plot cos(x)
plot cos(2*x)
plot cos(3*x)
unset multiplot
set multiplot layout 1,3
plot cos(4*x)
plot cos(5*x)
plot cos(5*x)
unset multiplot